Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-12-16
EDISON S pHoHOGRApH.

49, -SS
Amnn&iBusslness Men.
Thomas A. Ellison was found in his
Newark factory. not at sill disturbed by
the criticisms Of some scientific skeptics,
who doubt that his comming phono-
graph will do half or 9 quarter Of what
he claims for 1t. In answer to about 200
questions, Q or less. Edison said:
s.. f'erhaps 1 am wrong III telling you
any thing about my phonograph, be-
cause what / .olaim for it is so extraor-
binary that / get only ridicule in return.
I am SO confident that when the APP
paratus appears it will dispel all doubts
as to its practicability and working
value that1 can afford for the present
to ignore ali kinds OF criticism and keep
at my work regarding OF the storm
which I have been saiaing by tell
ing q few people that there was such q
perfect monograph in existence. / am
sure that while scientific men may doubt
that / have succeeded as well as
I say 1 have, they will ad-
nit that there is nothing at all imposei-
Bile in what I claim, and that the germ
OF the perfect monograph. should such
q thing appear, is very clear in my old
toy OF ten years ago, which was exhibi-
ted ell over the country and was then
acknowledged to be Of the wonders
of the century. Juat consider for O seq
uud what my old photograph 10, and
think how little needed to be done to
bring tito q working instrument. With
my roughly constructed instrument OF
1877 I reproduced oil sorts OF sounds,
getting back from the phonograph some-
thing like the original sound. OF course
you had to yell into the thing, and the
reproduction of conversation vas often
something OF a earioature of the original.
Nevertheless. TO obtain q result that
could be understood WAS doing wonders,
and most people who remember my (
hibitions will admit that while / did not
produce a commercisl machine, I made
avery interesting and ercditsble attempt
and my whistling and singing phono-
graph was q wonder.
"My new photograph will occupy
about as much spacs on the merchants
desk, or at the side Of the desk, as d
typewriter does. 1t will work automatl-
cally by q small electric motor, which
runs at q perfectly regular rate Of speed,
is noiseless, and starts or stops at the
touch OF q spring. Suppose the mer-
chant wishes TO write q letter: he pulls
the mouthpiece OF the phonogreDh To
him, starts the motor with founh, and
says what he Sssss 10 say in an ordinary
teooiiie of voice. When he is done he
pulls ont a little sheet and rolls il mp
for the mail. The recipient places this
sheet in Q similar photograph, touches
tho motor spring, and the instrument
will at once read ont the letter in a tone
more distinct. clearer, more charActeris-
tic Of the voice Of the writer than any
TELEPHONE you or I 9 heard. The
pbonogfaph voice is NOT o loud voice
perhaps mot more than twice as iond as
the sound you get through Q
good telephone. and an eArphone
will be necessary. This, however
may not be ON objection, in.
asmuch as people do not always want tc
have their letters heard all over the off,
ce. In ginning for loudness in ths phon-
ograph, / went astray In my first experi.
ment; I should have tried for c~learness
The present apparatus will satisfy any
one who Is half satisfied with the ,tele-
phone. OF course, there are no disturb
apces IN the photographic message snch
as those made by induction along alteie
phone wire and as the apparatus will re.
peat the letter over and v again IL il
possible TO understand every eyllable
even IN q noisy Office. I was SO over
came with the success Of my firss instru'
ment. finished about six weeks ago, tina,
l donbted whether / couid make anothe,
IeQuslly good, and / went TO work al once
to do 20; my second instruments wsrk,
rs well as the first. and ! have 90 york
men employed in making the tools fol
the Manufacture OF the first lot Of 60t
Photographic. They will ccat $50 apiece